A second U.S. aircraft carrier has entered Middle Eastern waters as Iran and the United States prepare for another round of negotiations over Tehran’s accelerating nuclear program, according to satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The USS Carl Vinson and its strike group are now operating in the Arabian Sea. Their deployment coincides with suspected U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen overnight. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and American officials have repeatedly tied the month-long offensive—launched under President Donald Trump— to pressure on Iran ahead of nuclear talks.
Uncertainty lingers over the exact location of the upcoming negotiations. While Rome was initially cited as the venue, Iran asserted early Tuesday that the talks would return to Oman. So far, U.S. officials have not confirmed a location.
With nearly five decades of hostility between the two countries, the stakes could not be higher. President Trump has consistently warned that the U.S. may carry out airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure if an agreement isn’t achieved. Meanwhile, Iranian officials have increasingly threatened to pursue nuclear weapons, with their uranium enrichment already nearing weapons-grade levels.
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy for Middle East affairs who took part in last weekend’s talks in Oman, hinted that the Trump administration may consider the 2015 nuclear deal—abandoned by Trump in 2018—as a potential framework for the current negotiations. He described the Oman discussions as “positive, constructive, compelling.”
“This will focus heavily on verifying Iran’s enrichment activities and, eventually, their weaponization efforts,” Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News on Monday night. “That includes their missile stockpiles and the triggering mechanism for a bomb.”
Satellite imagery taken Monday by the European Union’s Copernicus program showed the Carl Vinson—based in San Diego, California—operating northeast of Socotra, an island off Yemen near the Gulf of Aden. Accompanying the carrier are the guided missile cruiser USS Princeton and two guided missile destroyers, the USS Sterett and USS William P. Lawrence.
The Vinson was dispatched to support the USS Harry S. Truman, which has been carrying out airstrikes on Houthi targets since March 15, the start of the U.S. offensive. Recent footage from the Navy shows the Vinson loading ordnance and launching F-35 and F/A-18 jets from its deck. The Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, responsible for regional operations, has declined to comment on specific details regarding the carrier’s mission.
In a notable development, Witkoff also proposed a target uranium enrichment level of 3.67 percent for Iran—a significant reduction from Tehran’s current enrichment of up to 60 percent, which is just a technical step away from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear weapon.
